Issue 272
Issue 272
Issue 272
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CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn
Cheers,
Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
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By David Younce
1. The Method
============================================================
At any level of detail, city, village, or dungeon, the steps
of setting up and maintaining a complex system are the same:
1) Map out the main actors and have some idea of their goals
2) Determine the attitudes of the actors toward each other
3) Determine how things are going (or have gone) for each of
the actors currently or over time
4) Translate what you have learned about the system back
into storytelling terms
Step 1
------
Take a blank sheet of paper and write the name of an actor
and draw a circle around the name. For each actor in the
system, do the same until you have a sheet with a bunch of
more-or-less evenly distributed circles on it. If the actors
are arranged geographically (as between nations or humanoid
tribes in a dungeon) try to have a semblance of that
geography reflected in the way you've drawn your actors on
the paper, since actors most often have a relationship with
actors nearest to them.
Step 2
------
With actors drawn, pencil a line between two actors where
you want to establish a relationship. You need not draw a
line between every actor, especially in a system with many
actors.
Next, roll d100 for each relationship line and write the
resulting number down. If the two actors are of differing
alignments, I usually apply a negative modifier to the roll
to reflect the distance in their world views.
The resulting die roll will represent how the two actors
feel about each other. If you can, think of a reason they
might feel that way toward each other. Note that things may
come into more focus after you see how each actor is doing
in the next step.
Step 4
------
As you go (or at the end, if you prefer) try to think of a
reason things have been going well or going poorly for the
actor. Revisit the relationship numbers and refine the
nature and reasons for the relationship based on what you
now know about the actors and their relative fortunes.
Chieftain-Shaman: 3
Chieftain-Druid: 58
Chieftain-Warrior: 16
Chieftain-PCs: 70 (assigned)
Shaman-Druid: 82
Shaman-Warrior: 73
Shaman-PCs: 21
Druid-Warrior: 83
Druid-PCs: 23
Warrior-PCs: 56
Now, establish how well each actor (except the PCs) has been
doing over the last little while:
Chief: 12
Shaman: 27
Druid: 19
Warrior: 20
Since every actor rolled low on the current status roll, I'm
going to say food has been extremely scarce, and the whole
tribe has been suffering. The Chieftain knows the jig is up
and has invited the party back to camp in the hopes that
they will defend him if things turn sour (he may even throw
himself at their feet and beg them to do so).
3. On A Dungeon-Wide Scale
============================================================
Most dungeons contain several types of monsters, including
some with intelligence, living in close proximity to each
other. Over time, it is natural that alliances, trade,
enmity, war, servitude, and other relationships will develop
between the groups in your dungeon.
When you roll for how things have been going for a monster
group in a dungeon, you start to see who the power players
are. Doing well on this roll means the actor is getting what
it wants. So, what does that tribe of bugbears want? Food?
If you roll that they are doing well, but they are
surrounded by enemies, that means their raids for food are
successful. If they have allies, it might mean the bugbears
get all the food they need in tribute from the groveling
goblins next door.
4. On A City-Wide Scale
============================================================
This is my favorite level of detail to deal with, and I hope
I can show you why. Since cities are often a base for PCs to
return to between adventures, they are also one of the
primary places the PCs look for new adventures. There are
usually a number of important groups or people in the city,
all of whom have resources, motives, allies, and enemies.
5. On An Inter-City Scale
============================================================
Simulated economies are a level of detail that many GMs feel
no need for, and that's just fine. On the other hand, if you
know the wheat harvest has been poor this year in Crafton
but the fishermen in Bayport are having a record year, it
can give you new ideas for adventure. Perhaps the bad
harvest is because a strange disease introduced by a twisted
druid has been killing all the wheat. Perhaps the fish are
all coming to the surface because they fear the kraken that
has awakened in the deep. If you can come up with stuff like
that on your own, go ahead. But I can't, so I use this
system to help me see what's happening with the economies of
my settlements.
6. On A Kingdom-Wide Scale
============================================================
I don't always feel the need to deal with things at this
scale, but in a realm where nobles or other contingents are
competing for power and resources, it makes sense to do so.
If your players are interested in a campaign with political
intrigue, rolling at this level is a must. When the King is
starting to get old and no heir has been born, it's
definitely time to map out your actors and get to work
figuring out who is allied with who against whom.
7. On A World-Wide Scale
============================================================
For a more complicated, but more detailed way of tracking
multiple realms, I recommend the Countrycraft article by Ray
Winninger in Dragon Magazine 293. For a quick-and-dirty look
at your upcoming intercontinental conflict, just map out
your actors, establish whether they're trading, fighting, or
scheming together, and roll to see who's weak, who's strong,
and who's going to take advantage of the situation.
When you want to write the history of your world and you're
stuck for ideas, start at some time in the distant past,
make up a few empires, roll to see how they do year to year
and who gets along with whom, and pretty soon you'll have an
outline for how your ancient empire of elves became the
scattered remnant they are today after the meteor smashed
into their main city and the neighboring humans took
advantage of the situation to rush in and attack!
* * *
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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK
Thanks for your help, and the tips you send each week.
There will come a time when two of the same card are in
play--an instant sign of cheating. However, the characters
won't know _who_ is cheating. This is a great opportunity
for Sense Motive or skill checks, and to increase the drama.
a. Maps
b. NPCs
c. Monsters
d. Treasures
e. Storyline / Plot hooks
f. Character backgrounds to be used later (usually gathered
in-game)
If you have transparencies, you can lay them over the board
to draw terrain or walls, or use game pieces (pawns,
checkers, tiles, etc.) to develop boundaries and enemies.
We've used extra dice and pencils to improvise walls and
hills, desks, corpses (a giant's corpse can make useful
cover...).
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email: johnn@roleplayingtips.com
web site: http://www.roleplayingtips.com